Bo Unmasked
by Besma0003
Summary: This takes place directly after ch. 274 and what I wish would happen. It probably won't, but I can dream.


"To put it in plainer terms, I was a tool," Ren said while pointing at himself.

Kyoko could only stare at him in shock. _It was staged? He didn't willingly kiss her? _Relief bloomed in her chest and flooded her body. The tension she'd been holding since she first saw the photo was released from her body. The sense of relief was so great tears started welling in her eyes and falling down her face. _He's…he's not dating anyone. I can still be allowed to watch him and have feelings for him. _Her thoughts intensified her tears. She lost all composure and started shaking as she cried unable to control the large tears falling down her face. She moved her hands to her face in habit, but the chicken outfit prevented her from being able to hide her face in her hands.

* * *

Ren watched in shock. _Why is he crying? I'm the one who just confessed to being used as a tool. _Ren was struggling to figure it out but then remembered how the chicken sometimes got lost in his own thoughts and didn't listen to Ren. _Like that time when I was telling him about my love problems and he pounced on a cockroach. _Ren started to get angry thinking about how he was opening himself up to this chicken yet again but he wasn't listening. He would unmask this chicken once and for all and give whoever was wearing the suit a scolding.

Ren stood up and moved in front of the chicken. _He hasn't noticed. Good, he won't be able to stop me this time. _Ren had tried this once before but the chicken hadn't allowed it. But this time, Ren would succeed.

In one fluid motion, he reached out his hands, grabbed the head, and lifted up. It gave a satisfying pop as it came off. Ren looked past the head he was now holding to see who was under the mask.

The chicken had his hands up over the face so Ren couldn't see right away. Slowly, the chicken's hands moved from in front of his face to the side of his head feeling around where the head of the suit should be. A feminine face looked up at him in shock.

It felt like lightning went through Ren's body paralyzing him. _…Kyoko? _It couldn't be. There was just no way. Wasn't it a man inside the suit?

The two looked at each other unmoving. Kyoko sitting on the bench staring up at him. Ren holding the chicken head in his hands as he stood in front of her. Neither able to process what was happening.

Finally, Kyoko bolted up and ran away down the hall leaving her chicken head behind. Ren continued to stand there after she left staring at the spot where she had been sitting. Eventually, he dropped the head from his hands but he continued staring with his hands out in front of him as if he was still holding it.

* * *

Yashiro was rushing to catch up with Ren. His meeting had held him up later than he planned. He was worried about him and wanted to be by his side as soon as possible. He wasn't expecting to find Ren standing in a random hallway with his arms out in front of him as if he'd been holding something. Yashiro saw the chicken head on the floor in front of Ren. _Doesn't that belong to the one he talks to sometimes?_

He walked up to Ren to get his attention and was taken aback by the look on the younger man's face. Complete disbelief was written all over his face. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Ren," Yashiro said cautiously. "Are you alright…Ren?" He reached out his hand to rest it on Ren's shoulder trying to get his attention.

Ren's head slowly turned towards him, the look of shock never leaving his face. "She's…chicken…" was all that he said.

"Ren, what happened?" Yashiro asked concerned.

"That chicken…Kyoko…" He still couldn't get out a full thought. Yashiro was confused. _What does Kyoko have to do with that chicken? It doesn't matter. I have to get Ren out of here. It'd be too easy for someone to walk by and see him in this state._

Yashiro grabbed Ren's arm and pulled until he got him to follow. He half dragged him all the way to the car. At least in the car, he was safe to have whatever expression he wanted without others being able to see.

Still, he would need to get a hold of himself before they go to their next job site.

The car ride was silent. Ren gradually gained control of himself. By the time they reached their destination, he had control of his face and looked contemplative.

"Yashiro-san, you know Kyoko's schedule, right?" Ren asked without looking at him before they got out of the car.

"Y-yes," Yashiro responded.

"When can I meet with her?" Ren asked finally looking at him. He didn't look angry but his face did speak of a sternness the young man only used with Kyoko.

* * *

Kyoko was glad for the opportunity to escape. She had to double back later to pick up the chicken head. She had cautiously approached the hallway in case Ren was still around. He wasn't, thankfully. She gathered up the head and returned it to its proper storage location before leaving.

She had no idea how she was going to face him again. Sure, the misunderstanding about him dating someone was cleared up. But now he knew she was Bo. _He's going to kill me, _she thought. There was no way he wouldn't. He had revealed intimate secrets to her without realizing who he was speaking to. Secrets that he would rather his female junior did not know.

_I'll just avoid him for the rest of my life. Yes, that's it. He can't kill me if I never get close to him._

* * *

Ren was thankful that Yashiro knew Kyoko's schedule so well. They were at LME now. According to his manager, she should be here. Ren found Sawara-san and asked him if he knew the young woman's whereabouts. He informed Ren that she was in the Love Me room and was alone.

Ren grinned as he walked towards the door that was his only obstacle between him and Kyoko. Before heading in he turned to Yashiro. "Make sure no one interrupts us. We have a few things to discuss," Ren told him.

"Ren, I have no problem making sure no one steps foot in that room, but you will behave yourself won't you? You look like a predator hunting right now." Yashiro told him looking worried.

"You don't have to worry," Ren said flashing a cunning smile. "She'll calm down once she explains to me what she was doing in that chicken suit and why she never told me." Realization dawned on Yashiro's face at his words. With his manager's concern taken care of, Ren grabbed the door handle and turned. He stepped into the room closing the door behind him.

Kyoko was standing there in front of him. Her back was turned to him initially but upon hearing the door open she turned to look and froze. Ren stepped a few steps in front of the door leaving an opening and crossed his arms over his chest. "I think you have some explaining to do."

Kyoko's eyes darted around the room as she looked for a way to escape his confrontation. She noticed the opening he'd left for her to reach the door. She quickly ran to get by him and get out the door. _Just as planned_. Ren stuck his arm out just as she was going to pass him causing her to run into his arm. He swung her back into his chest holding her there with both arms. He could feel her shaking as he held her.

"Now that the attempted escape is settled," he whispered into her ear. "I think it's about time we talked. No more running." She continued to tremble but shook her head. Ren let go with his arms but grabbed her hand with his and led her to the couch in the room. He pulled her into the seat beside him so they could talk face to face.

"I'm so sooorrrryyyyy," she wailed as she quickly tried to jump off the couch to do a dogeza. Ren had anticipated this action and used his arms to prevent her from getting on the floor. This left her entangled in his grasp.

"Well, since your going to jump so willingly into my arms, I'll help myself," he said as he pulled her into a hug. "Can we talk properly now, please? I'm tired of having you run from me." He felt her nod against his shoulder and he reluctantly let her go. "Why don't we start with the chicken costume. Has it been you this whole time?" He asked looking into her eyes as she sat up.

She quickly avoided his gaze. "Yes," she told him. "After our first interaction, I couldn't tell you it was me. I knew you would hate the idea of it being me inside the chicken suit when you confessed your confusion over tentekomai." She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke.

_She's probably right, _he thought to himself. They weren't getting along back then. "But you could have told me after. The next time we met we were getting along better," he said to her.

"You were struggling with love problems then. There was no way I could have told you it was me. I was your junior and a female. There's no way you would have been comfortable with the idea of me knowing your secret like that." She kept her eyes down through her statement.

_Right, and add to that the one I like is you…I'm not sure how I would have handled it if she had told me. _Ren sighed and hung his head at the complicated mess they were in.

"You were right," he said with his head still hung. "There really never was a good opportunity for you to tell me. But I know now. So why don't we get to the other point of this discussion," he said lifting his head back up to look at her. "Why have you been running from me?" He reached his hand out to her cheek and turned her head to make her look at him. He saw the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

"...I…can't…" She said as the tears started to flow. She put her face in her hands in her despair.

"Why not?" Ren asked a little baffled.

"Because…because I don't want you to know how stupid and awful I am," she said through her hands.

Ren's gaze softened at her words. "Hey, you can't look any more stupid than the secrets I told you while you were in the chicken costume. Really, if either of us should be embarrassed it should be me." Ren said to her. _Not to mention, I confessed my love to her without even realizing it…Not that she noticed._

"But," she said finally looking up at him. The tears were flowing freely down her face. "You'll never want to speak to me again..I..I gave in to that most despicable thing!" She sobbed.

_Despicable thing? What's she talking about?_ The only thing that Ren knew that Kyoko found to be despicable was love and Sho Fuwa. _…No…_He was horrified at the thought that she fell back in love with Fuwa.

"Kyoko," he said with a dangerous growl in his voice. She jumped hearing it. "Do you mean to tell me you fell back in love with Fuwa?" He didn't know what he was going to do if she said yes. He felt his sanity holding on by a thin thread.

At his words, the tears stopped flowing and her mouth dropped in shock. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she could get out any words. "Sho? What?! How could I ever fall in love with that bastard again?!" She asked him angrily.

Ren felt the strain in his body loosen. _Thank God. _He wouldn't have been able to take it if she had gotten back together with him. "I'm afraid you're going to have to explain then. What other thing is there that's despicable?" He asked her.

She looked away again avoiding his eyes. "I don't want to say," she said.

"You're not leaving this room until you tell me. I don't like having you run away from me. This mess is going to be cleared up now," he told her.

A sob escaped her as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. "I'd rather that than have you hate me," She said quietly.

"Mogami-san," he said gently grabbing both her hands to hold in his. "There is nothing you could ever say that would cause me to hate you." He lifted her hands up to his mouth and kissed them. The action elicited another sob from her.

"Please don't do things like that," she told him. "I'll want more," she whispered so quietly Ren almost didn't hear her.

_What? _He was about to chastise himself for making her even more uncomfortable when her whispered words reached his ear. _She'll want more… _Suddenly, her actions started clicking into place in Ren's mind. Her running from him after the release of the photo and now refusing to tell him why saying that it was despicable. _It can't be… there's no way…_Ren was too terrified to hope. If he allowed himself to hope and it wasn't true, he didn't think he would be able to recover.

"Mogami-san," he said gently. "If you want more from me, I'll gladly offer it." It was the safest way for him to broach this topic.

"You're too cruel, you don't even know what you're saying," she said to him still crying.

"I know very well what I'm saying," he said to her seriously. He let go of one hand and reached up to grab her chin. He pulled her face towards his so that she was looking at him. "I'm offering myself to you because I love you." He hadn't planned to say it right then, but it came out on its own.

Her eyes went wide in shock, "Ts-Tsuruga-san, you can just go around saying that. Besides, there's a woman you already love. The one you told Bo about," she fumbled saying.

"I will only say it to you. You're the only woman I love. As for what I told the chicken, I was talking about you, you silly girl," he kept his gaze on her as he spoke.

"I..I don't believe you," she said ripping her face and hand out of his hands and turning from him. She gripped her shoulders as she continued to cry.

"What will it take to convince you?" He asked her. "Why can't it be true that I love you?" He said to her back.

"Because I'm despicable! I swore to never fall in love again and yet… here I've done it again. And this time, it's so much worse than before! I've directed this despicable feeling towards you and what I felt for love before doesn't even come close in intensity!" She yelled out before gasping suddenly realizing her mistake.

He'd been afraid to hope, but he had started to. But to actually hear her say the words he so desperately wanted to hear knocked the breath out of him. It was a few seconds before he could breathe again. After the shock washed through him, he reached his arms out to her and pulled her into his chest holding her crying form tightly.

"It seems you still have the conception that love is a bad thing, but nothing could make me happier than what you just said," he said as he kissed her temple. "I don't want you to love anyone but me. I want to be the only one in your heart."

"You…you don't hate me?" She asked.

"Why would I hate you for loving me? On the contrary, it feels like the best day of my life to hear that you love me," he said into her hair.

She sobbed for a few moments before she could respond to him. "But…but love makes me selfish and do stupid things. I couldn't face you because I couldn't wish you well with Kana. I didn't want you to find happiness if it wasn't with me." A new round of sobbing started after she finished speaking.

Ren's heart broke hearing her words. He never dared to dream that she would love him this much. But loving him this much was also causing her pain. He hugged her tighter. "Mogami-san…no, Kyoko-chan," he couldn't continue to be so formal with her in this situation. He wasn't going to tell her he loved her but continue to hold her at arm's length. Her sob hitched in her throat hearing her name. "I'm the same. I want you to only be with me. Just earlier when I thought you were trying to say you were in love with Fuwa my sanity almost snapped. I can't bear the thought of you being with someone else."

She quieted in his arms at his words. She slowly pulled away from his chest just enough to be able to look up at him. "Is it really okay?" She asked him with uncertainty in her eyes.

"Yes." Ren couldn't hold back anymore. He brought one hand up behind her head and kissed her. He was going to keep it quick until she responded. She started kissing him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Elation swept through him at finally being able to kiss the woman he loved.

* * *

Kanae quietly shut the door hoping not to disturb the two in the room. She turned back to Yashiro blushing who was blushing himself. She had forced her way past him not wanting to leave Kyoko alone with Ren but clearly her worry wasn't necessary. The two had figured things out. By the look on his face, Yashiro had seen over her shoulder the same scene she had. "Well, I guess I'm not needed here," Kanae said as she walked off.

Yashiro leaned against the door sighing up at the ceiling, "Finally."

* * *

I hope you liked it! I thought of the first part of this as soon as I finished reading 274. But since I had nothing after Ren dropped the chicken head in shock, I wasn't going to write it out. Then this morning the rest of it came to me. I don't care if the rest of this happens, but I really, REALLY want Ren to lift the chicken head off her and for both of them to stare at each other in shock. It would be amazing.

Thanks for reading!

-Besma0003


End file.
